Maybe Once Wasn’t Enough
Last year, when I completed the Marine Corps Marathon I said I’d never run another. While the satisfaction and accomplishment of finishing the marathon was amazing and like no other, I just didn’t want to do it again. I didn’t want to put my body through it, I didn’t want to dedicate the time to it, I just didn’t want to do it again.
But now… Now I think I might want to do it again.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m glad I didn’t register for the race this year. It’s been a crazy summer and I wouldn’t have had the time or energy - mental or physical - to dedicate to training. I moved (and we all remember what a nightmare that was!), I started a new job and a new life. I’ve also been going out and drinking and dining and generally partying more than I have in a few years, but this is part of being single in a new city.
But now the cool fall weather is settling in and I’ve got that itch to do one again, and do better, stronger, and faster than last time. I’m not being unrealistic in this goal, I’ve run one before so I know I can do it. And this year my running is stronger than it was last year. On Saturday I went for a 15-mile run and felt great. Last year, when I ran the MCM I began to feel it at Mile 17. I hit my first wall at Mile 20. And then again at Mile 23. And 24. And pretty much the rest of the race was a mental and physical challenge like none other I’ve known.
But I want to do it again.
Last year when I ran it I was battling things other than just the pavement. Eight weeks prior to the race I went to Paris for vacation. It was great, but I came home jet-lagged and sick. Six weeks prior to the race my husband and I separated and I began a spiraling descent into pain, despair and depression. Training for the marathon helped me through that diffiuclt time in my life, but I also know that I could have trained harder and been more prepared for the race if my head had been clear.
Bachelor #6 ran last year’s race in an amazing 3:30 - that’s an 8-minute pace for the full 26.2 miles (do you see why I’m swooning people?). While there is no way I could keep up with him, I want to improve my time and feel that amazing rush of finishing. I’d love to complete it in 4 hours, which is an easy 9.16-minute pace. I want the damn medal and the t-shirt and the satisfaction of saying, once again, “I am a marathoner.”
That’s awesome! Go for it!
I say go for it! I know I want to run a marathon next year… but no where as fast as you! You can wait for me at the finish line!
Dude! I will make you a MEGA COURTNEY POSTER and fight for my right to get the BEST SPOTS to get pictures of you, and then afterwards I’ll shower you with orange slices and mentholated sore muscle rub.
ps — is the title of this post a double entendre?
pss — Definition of double entendre: a word or expression capable of two interpretations with one usually risqué.
Cuz in that case, maybe I’ll leave after the shouting and cheering and hugging, but before the showering…
My Dad runs marathons in 3:30…but you can’t date him.
As a runner, I know that feeling…if you are itchy to do it, then you gotta do it!!!
Matt said he absolutely will NOT stay in the hotel room sick when we go off and have a fabulous dinner the night before! AAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNDDDDDDD, he will NOT run from place to place like a moron if he is sick. I say he will do what I say and like it. *wicked snicker* I will paint our arms with crazy dork tattoos made of magic marker again and maybe this time I won’t get lost. WE will make posters until the wee hours of the morning. I will load my backpack with gel, ibuprofren, bananas, gummy bears, water, gatorade, condoms (you never know what could happen in 26 miles!)! Oh, and….Maybe I’ll run too….waiit… sorry…i got carried away. *maniacal laugh* I won’t be running anywhere except to the breakfast buffet and subsequently…the bathroom!
That’s amazing, do it again! I can’t even imagine running for 3.5 hours…straight.
Girls are like that! They do silly things like Have a Baby and say, “I’ll NEVER do that again,” and one month later they get that look in their eye and….
I guess it works that way with marathons, too.
[...] I went for a nice 20-mile run. Remember how I recently talked about doing another marathon? Well, I registered for the Richmond Marathon, which is November 15th, so it was high time I [...]